When should you use match case (structural pattern matching) in Python 3.10+ instead of if elif? Is it faster?

Python 3.10 introduced match/case, but some developers still use if/elif. This Q&A clarifies benefits and performance myths.

A: • Use match/case primarily when your logic involves structural patterns—like matching namedtuple, dicts, or class-based trees. For example: python Copy code match node: case Add(left, right): … case Sub(_, _): … This is cleaner, declarative, and verifies structure at compile-time. • For simple value checks (strings, ints), if elif is often faster and more familiar. Performance-wise, Python’s match/case did not implement jump tables internally, so performance is usually on par with—or sometimes slower than—if elif else chains. “Python’s match statements do not have jump tables, and therefore have none of the potential performance gains of a switch.”  Reddit benchmarks show match can be up to 10× slower in naive loops, but in data structures it can benefit readability. Additional comments show that removing overhead (like dict lookup) narrows the gap.  As a rule: • Use match for structural clarity and nesting (like parsing ASTs or DDMonde structures), • Use if elif for flat conditions. Tags: Python 3.10, pattern matching, match-case, if-elif, performance